The Date
by My blue rose
Summary: Yusuke has been forced to go on a date with Keiko after losing a bet. With his friends watching their every move will he survive the evening? Will Keiko dump him for good this time? Will the fancy restaurant ever be able to clean up the mess? Yusuke/Keiko
1. Prologue: WIth Friends Like These

**Prologue: With Friends Like These **

Standing outside the Yukimura Raman shop, Yusuke ran his fingers nervously through his hair and rocked back on his heels. He had never gone on a date with Keiko before, and to say that he was uneasy about it would be the biggest understatement in the three worlds. Their relationship wasn't the type that went on dates. Not that he _wanted_ to go on dates or even this date; it was just too damn uncomfortable and he wasn't even talking about the clothes!

Yusuke freely admitted he had lost the bet, which had landed him in this situation. He just wished Kuwabara was not so adamant that all promises were like, sacred or something, and must be followed through. He would have found a way to ditch _somehow _if Kuwabara had not managed to drag Kurama into this. When the Mazoku had protested at the utter unfairness of it all, not to mention his friends ganging up on him, the red head had smiled mischievously and replied,

"We can't have one of the most powerful youkai in Makai going back on their word, now can we?"

Damn Fox. It was his black dress pants and brown long sleeve button-down shirt he was wearing now. Unfortunately, Kurama was taller than him but slimmer in build, so Yusuke felt like he was squeezed into a silk straight-jacket. But that wasn't the worst of it! That would have to be the group of _friends_ standing on the sidewalk behind him all hell-bent on watching how the evening went. With friends like these, why did he even bother training?

He was seething because only an hour ago he found out that Kuwabara had told Shizuru about the date (who thought it was the funniest thing in the world) who told Botan about it. The two of them got Yukina to come (and because she was here Hiei had come to keep an eye on her—or to laugh at his misery, Yusuke thought it was probably both).

Yukina, due to a misunderstanding that he was only doing this because he had lost a bet, had invited Touya to come for moral support. He in turn had invited Shishi and Rinku to tag along. Rinku had recently become good friends with Shura, Yomi's kid, so _he_ was here too!

And of_ course_ Kuwabara was here to make sure he made good on the bet. Kurama _said_ he was here so he wouldn't do any damage his girly-ass clothes, but Yusuke knew it was because he wanted in on experiencing his humiliation. They were smiling at him, the devious bastards! Even Hiei had a small smile on his face! It was a bit creepy, and Yusuke wished he would stop.

Taking a deep, fortifying breath, he entered the store, acutely aware of his friends pressing against the glass window to get a better look inside. Keiko's father smiled at him from behind the counter, politely ignoring the _ten_ people standing outside his store.

"Have a good time and don't stay out too late tonight Yu-chan."

Yusuke gasped in horror. Mortified, he spun around, hoping against hope that his friend's hadn't heard that. To his dismay he saw Botan, Shizuru, Touya, Shishi, Rinku, laughing their asses off at him. Kurama had his had over his mouth shaking with mirth. Kuwabara was holding his stomach and mouthing 'Yu-chan' at him. Even Yukina was smiling at him. Hiei and Shura were smirking at him and Yusuke knew Mukuro and Yomi would hear about this.

It was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter One: Geting Serious

**My blue rose: I was rewatching the YYH anime, the Japanese one not the English dubbed one (I do like Kurama's voice actor better in the dub, but I like everyone else's voices better in the Japanese original) and heard Keiko's dad refer to Yusuke as 'Yu-chan' and I cracked up. I think it's hilarious for someone to ever refer to Yusuke as 'Yu-chan' so I decided to write a one-shot about it which turned into the full blown series fic you see here. **

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**Chapter One: Getting Serious**

Yusuke's jaw dropped when he saw Keiko. If he had thought about it he might have realized that he had never actually seen Keiko dressed up before, but he hadn't and she looked stunning. She had curled her normally straight hair so it now curtained her face, making her look older and more mature.

She wore a blue silk mandarin-collar blouse, the color of Botan's hair and a matching blue short skirt. The outfit accentuated her curves, brightened her face, and, for the first time, Yusuke saw the junior high girl he had fallen in love with as the eighteen year old woman she now was.

"Ahh, you, er, look nice." He complemented lamely.

She smiled and Yusuke suddenly felt nervous again. He had never really realized what a beautiful woman Keiko was. Even though he was all dressed up too, the eighteen-year-old Junior High dropout was wondering what people would think of a girl like her dating a guy like him. As if she had read his mind, Keiko eyed his profile and smirked uncharacteristically.

"You look nice too. Maybe you should wear that more often."

She was gazing at his abdomen where the too small shirt clearly showed his washboard abs. Yusuke felt his face flush and he stared in shock at his grinning girlfriend. She had said something that was almost perverse!

"Who are you and what have you done with Keiko?" he muttered rhetorically, wishing he could stop his face from burning. To his further astonishment, she laughed and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

"If I had known you'd reacted this way I'd have done that along time ago. Apparently you're not the pervert I thought you were." She was teasing him and he knew it, but that didn't make him fell any better.

"Let's just get this over with! He snapped. Keiko's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Urameshi Yusuke! _You_ asked me out on a date! _You _were the one who had a rare moment of maturity and wanted to take our relationship to the next level! But if you don't want to go on this date then you can stay here and I will go without you!"

Yusuke was glad that some things didn't change. She was still the little spit fire she always had been and he wouldn't want her any other way. He just hoped Keiko didn't find out that he was only doing this because he'd lost a stupid bet or she'd slap him in to next week!

She had gotten all philosophical on him and had said she was happy that he had finally gotten 'serious about their relationship'. Yusuke was confused about this. When had he _not_ been serious about their relationship? When he had thrown his spirit beast egg into the fire to save her knowing that he couldn't come back to life without it? Or when he used his life enegy to defeat Suzaku to save her life and would have died if Kuwabara hadn't risked his life to transfer his energy into him?

How about the time he fought Toguro and Sensui to keep the world safe for her? When he chose to come back after his first time in Makai? Or when he came back after three years as promised? Was he not serious about their relationship then?

Girls! He just didn't understand them.

"S-sorry I-I just, well…uh…" he stammered, shifting uncomfortably. To his relief Keiko sighed and shook her head.

"I know, I know, but just think if tonight goes well we can do this all the time." Yusuke fought to keep the rising horror that was filling him from showing on his face.

"Oh, that's, er, good, uh, yeah." He stopped himself from thinking about future nights of torture. He quickly made up some brilliant lies as they walked downstairs.

"Well, uh, I kinda told Kuwabara and Kurama about the date and, uh, well other people found out and they really wanted to see me on a date and uhh…" they could see the conspicuous group of people standing outside now. Botan and waved cheerily and Kuwabara gave him a thumbs up. Keiko turned to him and smiled.

"No wonder you're nervous. Well, if they want to see us on a date then we'll give them something to remember. The next date will be our private one, okay?"

"R-right" he said dejectedly.

Keiko grasped his hand, smiled pointedly at everyone outside, and strode out the door Yusuke in tow.


	3. Chapter Two: A Table for Two

**Chapter Two: A Table for Two**

"Yusuke?"

He was looking up and down the street—ignoring the gaggle of friends behind him—and nodding to himself. At this time of day it was crowed with people, coming home from school or work, doing last minute shopping and god knows what else. No one was bothering to spare them a look.

"Yusuke?" She asked again.

He still wasn't listening to her…

"Yusuke!" Keiko yelled in his ear.

"What?" he spat. She could hear snickering behind them.

"I just wanted to know how we're getting to the restaurant." She said in a dangerously sweet voice.

Yusuke gulped and braced himself for a slap.

"Are we going on the subway? Or taking a taxi?"

"I can do better that!"

"A limo?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Nah, Much faster than that."

"A bullet train? The restaurant's not that far away, is it?"

Yusuke grinned broadly. Keiko caught the mischievous gleam in his eyes and jerked away, but not fast enough. Yusuke had scooped her up into his arms, as easily as a child, before she could blink.

"Yus—"

Her voice was lost in the wind as he took off, fast as a rocket, down the street. She didn't fear falling. His strong arms held her tight and the gravity from his sheer speed pushed her into his chest, where she could felt his heart beating against her. The people and buildings became an endless colorful blur; her hair was whipping back behind her like a flag in a windstorm.

She looked up at Yusuke, who was smiling at her like a madman, and laughed in delight. All too soon, it seemed, he slowed and came to a stop. He placed her down gently and held her until she was steady.

"How was your ride on the Yusuke express?"

He was still cheerful, but Keiko could hear the hint of worry in his voice. Her face was red, eyes teary from the wind, and her nicely done hair was windswept and ruined. She ran fingers through her hair and sighed fondly. She could read him like a book and he still couldn't tell when she was happy. Boys.

"_That_ was better than any rollercoaster I've ever been on." she assured him.

"Really? So you'd do it again?

"Yes, I'd love to."

"That's great, 'cause I really didn't have a way for us to get back home if you didn't."

She shook her head, torn between laughing and reprimanding him. She settled for grabbing his shirt by the lapels and pulling him down to kiss him hard. She released him, enjoying the confused look on his face, hooked her arm around his and strode into the restaurant.

* * *

Yusuke groaned softly and flattened his fringe. Though he had stopped slicking it back with copious amounts of gel for a few years now, his bangs still had a tendency to stick up at awkward angles. The run over here hadn't been bad. He had been surprised at how much Keiko had enjoyed it, and wondered why he never offered to try that before now.

He had been worried that part, honestly, because this place cost him three months wages just for dinner and he didn't have money for the subway or a taxi. He was lucky he could run or else he'd really be in trouble.

He had just been thinking that this might not be so bad after all when they entered the restaurant. It was… big. Large paintings and woodcuts adorned the walls along with beautifully illustrated wall scrolls and elegantly carved jade statues.

It was the sort of place rich businessmen would take their clients to. There was a huge _pond_ complete with waterfall in the middle of the place, for goodness sake! _It's the kinda place I'd get thrown out of,_ Yusuke thought, glancing around nervously.

Why, oh, why, had he let Kurama chose the location for the date!

He didn't have long to consider his trepidation, for a smiling waiter escorted to their seats almost immediately as Keiko mentioned 'reservation for two'. It was a small table in a dim corner, set for two and lit entirely by candles, next to the pond. He shot the large multicolored koi swimming in it a dirty look, before he sat down.

He almost gagged when he saw that the ivory chopsticks were engraved with gold kanji for 'love', 'honor' and 'beauty'. He squirmed in the seat. Damn these clothes were tight! He forced himself to smile as Keiko ordered an appetizer of raw Ahi tuna. At least he was getting some good food out of this.

Keiko chatted to him about collage and he tried to pay attention, he really did, but the intricacies of higher education where a mystery to him and Keiko's talk only confused him even more. He was glad he'd dropped out—junior high was bad enough!

Kuwabara went to Keiko's college too. He was on their baseball team and actually really good at it, at least, when he didn't have to catch anything. Yusuke guessed all that training with his spirit sword had to payoff somehow. It was pretty funny how it got on the team; he'd lauded his ass off when Kuwabara told him.

On his second day of school some hot-shot baseball player started hitting on Yukina and tried to grope her. Kuwabara was so pissed he punched the guy half-way through a wall. The guy was still in the hospital and the baseball team was going to lose this season without him. Kuwabara felt bad that he'd ruined the team's chances and offered to play. Now he was their best batter.

"Yusuke?' he started.

"What,"

"You haven't been listening to anything I've said, have you?"

"Uhh… "

"Why do I even bother!" she threw up her hands and huffed.

"Look I was…"

Yusuke he trailed off and clenched his fists, as two tables away he saw ten people noisily sitting down at a huge round table. His friends had arrived.

Just when he'd thought the night couldn't get any worse.


End file.
